The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-07-10
FERDINAND WARD.
| The Notorious Swindler Occupies His Time
with Little Printing Press.


with Little Printing Press.
Correspondence Philadelphia Press.
Ferdinand Ward. perhaps the most noted pris-
oner of all. curious compound of shrewd-
and weakness, unlimited cheek and with
no conscience nor principles, achieved some rare
rogueries in which he WAS not solely to blame.
and in which he was by means unaided
IT'S does not refer only TO Mr.. Fish. There
were Others Some time hthe tangled web may
be unroled, though that Is not likely where so
many and powerful interested
in tanging it more, and a strange story will be
told. Ward would like to do it himself, but he
can't prove his statements and it is doubtful
if his memory would serve him. The
fact is that Ward aided insa stupendous fraud.
His vanity led him to take a leading part in it
the most prominent, indeed--and, 1t rolled
and on like some enormous SNOWFALL. always
getting bigger, it grew out OF all control and be-
yond his comprehension. 1t was matter of
days only when it would end, and his efforts
at last all directed toward tidine over each
hour, not to arranging the final catastrophe,
which was left TO take care of itself The
amount of business done by Grant 81 Ward
through the clearing house 1862 900. 900.
figure representing lso about one-quarter of
the national debt of the United States
The man who managed all this now works in a
shabby little prisonroom containing shabby
printing outfit with which he strikes off very
shabby letter and bill-heads for the prison. 1t
isc't work speak of, it Is not under the unre-
taxing watchfulness in which other prisoners
toll, but it is widely different from seat in the
directory OF the Marine Bank or a desk in the
private office or the once much-enVled, young
and enterprIsing firm of Grant 81 Ward Tho
active partner wears stripes of coarse wooden
fabric. but they fit him neatly. His boots
polished and shapely, and he looks pretty well
groomed. Ward is not a man to suffer much
in Imprisonment. His fibre is not fine enough
for that, his temperament is sanguine and his
ambitions. unqualified by the character of their
aims, crafty themselves IN small struggles
readily with great ones
His life in prison has not been an easy one.
He thought that money could secure him i'm
all hor6 CHI k,7ff
any way soften the asperities of prison life it
had to be applied with more tact than he
brought to its application. Unfortunately for
him. he expressed his views The methods
adopted to convince him of his error were
prompt and stern but it was some time before
they were effective. At first. he was put to
work dragging ashes from under boiler. 1t
was hot hard work. but he was kept TO it for
several weeks. Then the Bay State Shoe Com
pany secured his services as book-keeper one
Monday and found him ridiculously incompet-
emit on Tuesday. In bis youth he had been an
amateur journalist, and had some idea of setting
type, and this fact has directed the Mt of
his life in prison. The firm of Perry & Co..
stove akers. enjoyed large contract at that
time. and had need of blanks. bill-heads and
labels. They set Ward to work treadlng the
press with which these struck off. When
Perry & Co. were legislated out of their position
contractors, Ward and his printing Office be-
came appendage of the prison. He can do all
the work required of him in an hour each day.
The rest of his time he spends in reading and IN
such idle ways he can find diverting His
vanity knows repression. Even the fact that
ne is the most notorious prisoner in the COM
munity of 1900 rascals is a source of pride and
satisfaction to him, ana he courts the curious
regard which visitors readily grant him, and
basks in the observation of the crowds
which flock nge prison holidays.
He enjoys newspaper notorlety, too The fact
that most of the publications relating to his life
in prison have been far from compl mentary
serves perhaps TO check his enjoyment of them.
but not to destroy his pleasure in the
fact that he is still before the public
His inordinate vanity is beyond shame.
and, selfish and envious, he has easily become
the most unpopular man in prison, not only
among the convicts. but with the keepers. who
regard him as an unmitigated nuisance and do
not fail to let him know it. Still.
there good qualities about Ward. He
accepts his snubs-and there are many bestowed
with unvarying good nature. He is clipper
and good1fmpered under all conditions and has
no apprehensions for the future. He still has
matters in litigation, aud Bourke Cochran, MS
counsel is frequent visitor. His wife has con-
siderable property, "a house in Stamford and
hotel splendidly furnished on the Connecticut
River, between Hartford and Saybrook. THIS
hotel. although a small one, is very luxurious
affair. filled with hard wood throughout and all
sorts of luxuries not to be found in the average
summer establishment.